Twitter is NOT happy with Abercrombie & Fitch’s Pride Month tweet
Happy Pride! Well, not for Abercrombie & Fitch. The exclusive outfitter of our brooding, cologne-soaked, youth was caught making a major statement-making faux pas on Sunday when in *celebration* of the LGBTQ community and their fight for equality, the fashion retailer tweeted, “The Pride community is everybody, not just LGBTQ people.” #allpridematters? Not a good look.
And the complete lack of sense (fashion or otherwise) doesn’t end there. The distasteful tweet, which has since been deleted, included a link to A&F’s Made For Love collection, a limited-edition line of Pride-ful tees, totes, and hoodies emblazoned with a distinct rainbow insignia, 100% of the proceeds from which benefit The Trevor Project, the country’s leading LGBTQ advocacy organization.
They deleted it! @Abercrombie looking forward to your apology pic.twitter.com/YRJqg50SDY
— Danielle Muscato (she/her) (@DanielleMuscato) June 11, 2017
But it didn’t take long for Twitter users to dress down the clothing company for their tragically mismatched messaging.
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Me seeing Abercrombie and Fitch trying to say Pride Month is for straight people too pic.twitter.com/DWgjUpzw74
— Shane (@shandrick) June 10, 2017
I hear @Abercrombie threw the first Pepsi at Stonewall
— jes tom 🍒 (@jestom) June 11, 2017
Soon after, Abercrombie & Fitch issued an apology. Kind of…?
Pride is an important time for the LGBTQ+ community. At A&F we work to ensure that everyone feels included, respected and empowered. #pride
— Abercrombie & Fitch (@Abercrombie) June 11, 2017
Maybe…?
We are proud to show commitment to the LGBTQ+ community and to bring awareness to the important work the @TrevorProject does. #ANFxTrevor
— Abercrombie & Fitch (@Abercrombie) June 11, 2017
Okay, not at all.
https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/873733578386845696
straight people always feel included, respected, and empowered? that's why pride exists — for LGBTQ to feel the same
— Biz Hurst (@TheBizHurst) June 11, 2017
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This isn’t the first time consumers have ripped Abercrombie & Fitch. Back in 2002, many Asian Americans protested the clothing company after Abercrombie released a series of T-shirts with jokes like, “Wong Bros. Laundry Service: Two Wongs Can Make It White” alongside caricatures of Asian people with buck teeth and exaggerated eyes and wearing rice paddy hats.
Three years later, a group of Pennsylvania teenagers organized a “girlcott” of the store after the brand launched a line of T-shirts scrawled with sexist slogans like, “I had a nightmare I was brunette” and “Who needs brains when you have these?” (in reference to breasts).
For now, let’s hope A&F tries this on for size: LGBTQ allyship.
